>> Monday, June 29, 2015

Epic Fit Meals Co. is the pioneer of fit meals, offering essentially delicious, wholesome and balanced everyday meals that meet your eat-to-live needs while also indulging your live-to-eat spirit. The eatery's concept is Melbourne-inspired, offering the same multicultural range and quality cuisines using only best and most fabulous ingredients. They are all about simple, tasty food that you will love to eat everyday! All ingredients & dishes are delivered & prepared the very same day, ensuring that the food served is fresh; no sauces prepared nor meats marinated the night before. Every item is made to order - no cooking in large batches, nothing pre-cooked/reheated, not even their fruit juices!

Located at Damansara Perdana's Metropolitan Square, this eatery caters mostly for take-aways & deliveries, with minimal seating for those who prefer to dine-in. Their very own crew of Epic Delivery Superstars will deliver to you come rain or shine between 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily (final order at 10:30 p.m.). Delivery is free with minimal order of RM20.00 and above, and they will deliver to you within 45 minutes. As of now, locations covered by delivery are:

Damansara Perdana

Mutiara Damansara

Taman Tun Dr. Ismail

Bandar Utama

Damansara Kim

Tropicana*

Kota Damansara*

(* Terms & conditions applied)

Chief of Team: Lai Wick Kee

Very friendly, easy-going young chap, who explained to us, bloggers, the eatery's concept. Caught him in his serious look though...hahaha...

The team for that afternoon

They have at least 2 teams of kitchen staff, all young people! :D

The 'extensive' menu for such an eatery!

Delivery bags

Keeps the food fresh throughout the delivery journey, just like how Domino's Pizza does their delivery.

There were around 9-10 of us bloggers during this session, so we were introduced to almost all the food available on their menu! *woots*

I had a sudden craze for granola bars, especially since I still have some packets of nuts that I purchased some time back. My first 2 attempts for home-made granola bars late last week was such a success that I was self-motivated to make even more bars, but with rolled oats this time around.

The beauty about granola bars is the fact that you can add just about anything you fancy into the mixture! More oats, more nuts, more fruits, more crunch...whatever you like! :D It doesn't take a lot of time to get the bars out & it doesn't require any baking; quite fool-proof, really :)

The recipe that I followed as a guideline is from a blog site called Inspired Taste. As I'm a rule-breaker when it comes to cooking, I go according to the "agak-agak/feel" method, while having a recipe as the base.

Directions
1. Line bottom and sides of a 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil. [I didn't oil or spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray as per recipe as I thought there's enough butter/oil in the mixture...the bars stick a little to the foil, but it's quite easy to slowly remove the bars from the foil anyway]
2. Toast oats on medium flame until the oats have a slight brownish-look/'til there's a slight aroma of the toasted oats. Transfer to a large bowl.

6. Combine butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract and the salt into the same non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until butter melts and the sugar completely dissolves. (You can see how 'lazy' I am as I use the same few utensils for every other things)

7. Pour butter mixture in to bowl with toasted oats and almonds. Mix well. Let cool about 5 minutes then add cranberries and a 1/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir to combine. (The chocolate chips will most likely melt a little. This is fine, they turn into glue and help to hold the bars together).

8. Transfer oat mixture to lined pan then use a rubber spatula or damp finger tips to firmly press the mixture into the pan. (Press hard here, this way the bars will stay together once cooled and cut -- We press for about one minute to be extra safe).

9. Scatter remaining 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips over pressed granola mixture then use a rubber spatula to gently press them into the top. Cover then refrigerate at least 2 hours.

10. Remove block of granola mixture from pan then peel away aluminum foil. Cut into 12 bars/however large or small you personally prefer.

SUPER DUPER YUMMY!! Not overly sweet, crunchy, chewy (thanks to the rolled oats; if you use instant oats, it won't be so chewy, more crunchy), nutty, fruity - definitely a more nutritious snack/breakfast than packed potato chips & cheaper than buying granola bars from the supermarket! (with the same load of ingredients, mind you)

Try it out & let me know how yours turn out, yea? My fiance & friends loved the first 2 attempts, so let's see what my colleagues will think of this 3rd oaty attempt :P

>> Friday, June 26, 2015

Overall comment: Delicious, flavorful & satisfying :D I guess having pork as part of the soup base helps elevate the flavors to the next level.Halal: No

Thai boat noodles aren't foreign to Malaysians. I remember the time when the craze just started; everyone just wanted to have Thai boat noodles & every other person raves about how many bowls of noodles they can eat to satisfy their cravings!

My 1st Thai boat noodles was actually in Cyberjaya. I didn't believe in having numerous tiny portions of noodles, so I didn't bother trying boat noodles since its existence in Malaysia! *hahaha...seriously!* After some coaxing & recommendations by my colleague, I had my 1st Thai boat noodles, which I felt was "okay". Portions were way too small & I could enjoy a bowl of noodles (normal size) for RM6.00, which even 3 bowls of boat noodles (usually RM1.90/bowl) won't equate to half a normal bowl of noodles. *yes, I know I'm really 'calculative'*

Interestingly, Nine Bowls at Publika was a pleasant surprise. Portion isn't as small as the boat noodles I had at Cyberjaya & the soups were "oh-so-flavorful"!

Apart from small boat noodles, they have Thai BBQ & Steamboat as well :)

Condiments to go with your noodles
I didn't add these at all as I felt the soup was tasty enough on its own.

Let me share with you what I've tried that evening:

Thai Ice Tea/Lemonade (RM5.00/bottle)

They only had a minimal selection of drinks, so we had the usual Thai ice tea & a lemonade. No complaints.

Pork Boat Noodles in Clear Soup (RM1.90/serving - small)

I love this the most. It has a well-balanced taste of pork bone broth, perfectly salted/seasoned with a tinge of sweetness. The crunchy beansprouts & veggies gave a whiff of freshness to the comforting bowl of noodles.

Pork Boat Noodles in Clear Tom Yam Soup (RM1.90/serving - small)

My friend prefer this to the clear soup. Slightly spicy, slightly sourish - very appetizing. I think the base of the soup is the same...

Beef Boat Noodles (RM1.90/serving - small)

If you're not a fan of pork, they have beef noodles as well, which was equally flavorful! The beef broth is intense enough to give it an "umph!" factor for a simple bowl of noodles. Yums.

Kway Chap in Pepper Pork Soup (RM6.00/serving - medium)

It's slightly too salty, but it's really delicious. I love pepper pork soup with salted vegetables. In fact, my mum, sis & I used to order pepper pork soup with rice at least once a week when we stayed at our old house! 9Bowls just needed to soak/wash their salted vegetable to reduce the saltiness & this dish will be a winner!

Value Meal (RM9.80/serving - large)
If you're not too keen to try different flavors, you can opt for the value meal, which is a large bowl of boat noodles, equivalent to 6 small bowls of boat noodles! It's RM1.60 cheaper than having the 6 small bowls...hahaha...Ah, pepper pork noodles...large bowl...noms!

Crispy Pork Skin (RM2.00/serving)

Who doesn't like crispy pork skin? I like the crispiness of this pork skin, but I found this slightly too thick & hard. If I had dentures, I can bid goodbye to them...ahahahaha...

Grilled Pork Neck/"Ko Mu Yong" (RM6.00/serving)

Thumbs up! Lightly marinated, yet flavorful in every bite. Dipping the pork into the salty fish sauce with spicy chilli makes this side dish even more enjoyable. Oolala...

Although this is a Thai boat noodles restaurant, you can enjoy some Thai Mookata as well. A very simple selection of meats & vegetables for barbecuing & steamboat, but it compliments the boat noodles, which you may not want to indulge in really 9 bowls of pure noodles! :D

To conclude our tasting session, we tried their Thai coconut jelly, which was a good, sweet ending to the dining experience. It may seem to be a very simple, nothing special sort of coconut jelly, but if you love the sweet & fragrant Thai coconuts, you will not want to miss this.

Fans of Thai boat noodles, I would say this is one Thai boat noodles that you have to try!

Disclaimer: Reviews written are based solely on my personal opinion. I am not affiliated with any companies/restaurants and will not be responsible for any disappointments that occur. No part of this site or any of the content contained herein may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior permission from the publisher.